Food Oil Price Ratios Shift Away from Soy Imports

As soyoil gets more expensive relative to palm oil, the world’s biggest vegetable oil buyer?India?will likely shift toward palm oil, according to one analyst. India’s vegetable oils imports are likely to set a record 9.3 million metric tons this marketing year, with palm oil rising 11% to almost 7 mmt and soyoil dropping 6% to 1.5 mmt.

Soyoil is strengthening on higher soybean prices, greater Chinese demand and the concern that La Nina could affect the South American supply, which is unlikely to hurt Malaysian and Indonesian palm production. At the same time, Argentina and Brazil are increasing use of soyoil for biofuels.